TIME: 6 months

What We Did
With help from McKinsey's Research & Information specialists, we sought examples of effective systems engineering practices. Many were already being used by engineers in various parts of the client organization, but they were being applied sporadically at the part level, rather than in an integrated approach.

We also found that because process development took place outside product programs, the program engineers often did not know about them or did not know how to use them. With some of the client's systems engineering experts, we constructed an integrated approach focused on one product attribute that required cross-functional cooperation. We applied the approach immediately so we could refine the process as we developed it.

What Resulted
The engineers raved about the process, some commenting that this was the first time they had done systems engineering across functional groups. The leader of the product program began applying the process to other key product attributes, and the experts who had helped develop the process took responsibility for implementing it across other programs.

What We Learned
The involvement of the program engineers and the real-time application of the process built organizational commitment and capability that proved critical in the next stage of the project.